Silk reeling is a set of repetitive spiralling movements that include; Dantian rotations, soft opening and closing of the Kua, weight shifting, appropriate body alignment, waist involvement with coiling limbs, a rooted lower body and diaphragm breath work.
The coiling action of silk reeling creates a spiralling internal force, used for power in Tai Chi Chuan. What sits at the heart of an effective coiling action is relaxation (fang song) of the upper and lower body; shoulders, elbows, chest, hips, sacrum, tailbone and knees, expansion and compression of the joints, with the perineum moving in a backward figure 8 movement. The whole body moves as one continual spiralling unit driven from the waist/Dantian area.
At any level of training Chen style Tai Chi, silk reeling drills are of great importance.
